When all is said and done, the history that will be sung in heaven will be nothing other than the triumph of the saints. An understanding of history that exalts the powerful and the rich fails to see the true dynamic moving and shaping human development. This dynamic is nothing other than the Holy Spirit being expressed in the lives of those who have shed the limits of egocentricity in order to put on the new creation which is Jesus Christ.

The illusion of this world is that evil still has a chance. We witness atrocities, violence, and other instruments of evil which seem to tell us that the battle is not over. Many people struggle with despair, fear, and anxiety as they see the destruction which so often plagues the poor and marginalized. Such suffering rightly causes us to cry out for justice and to seek a world in which the dignity of the person is the standard by which people live in harmony.

Understanding the true nature of history and how God works through the suffering of his servants does not excuse us from acting. Instead, it provides the freedom to let the Holy Spirit act within us. In this way, our work and our participation in the mission of Jesus Christ are not plagued by the disorders of pride and the illusions of this world. Ultimately, injustice is not an abstract principle that requires an intellectual solution, but a grave disorder that begins in the human heart. It is only in the heart that we can first discover the answer because it is in the heart that we discover that the answer is not a something but a someone, Jesus Christ.

If the follower of Jesus Christ is killed, scorned, ridiculed, and considered irrelevant, it is still the believer who wins the day. Such treatment is a participation in the victory of Jesus Christ, a victory that not only has the final say, but is also the instrument by which the Father transforms the world. I believe that at the end of time we will discover that the Church was at her best when she was brought low in the world and accounted nothing in the eyes of many. It is then when the body of Christ most resembles her bridegroom.

So today, let us take heart that history is not a random series of events governed by chance and circumstance. Rather, history is the unfolding of Divine revelation through which the Father is communicating his love to the human race, patiently calling us to communion and intimacy with him through Jesus Christ.